


Crucio!

by xyzan21



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BAMF Harry Potter, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Sassy Harry Potter, Sirius Black Lives, Umbitch - Freeform, Wandless Magic, Wordless Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:15:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,141
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23786176
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xyzan21/pseuds/xyzan21
Summary: Basically, my take on what would have happened if Hermione hadn't stopped Umbridge from using the Cruciatus Curse on Harry.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy & Harry Potter, Sirius Black & Harry Potter
Comments: 22
Kudos: 577





	Crucio!

**Author's Note:**

> Sentences in bold are from the book. (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, chapter 32)

Snape turned and left, leaving a fuming Umbridge behind.

**“Very well,” she said, and she pulled out her wand. “Very well… I am left with no alternative… this is more than a matter of school discipline… this is an issue of Ministry security… yes… yes…”**

**She seemed to be talking herself into something. She was shifting her weight nervously from foot to foot, staring at Harry, beating her wand against her empty palm and breathing heavily. As he watched her, Harry felt horribly powerless without his own wand.**

**“You are forcing me, Potter… I do not want to,” said Umbridge, still moving restlessly on the spot, “but sometimes circumstances justify the use… I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice… The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongue.”**

**“No!” shrieked Hermione. “Professor Umbridge – it's illegal.”**

**But Umbridge took no notice. There was a nasty, eager, excited look on her face that Harry had never seen before. She raised her wand.**

**“The Minister wouldn't want you to break the law, Professor Umbridge!” cried Hermione.**

**“What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him,” said Umbridge, who was now panting slightly as she pointed her wand at different parts of Harry's body in turn, apparently trying to decide where it would hurt the most. “He never knew I ordered Dementors to go after Potter last summer, but he was delighted to be given the chance to expel him, all the same.”**

**“It was _you_?” gasped Harry. “ _You_ sent the Dementors after me?”**

**“ _Somebody_ had to act,” breathed Umbridge, as her wand came to rest pointing directly at Harry's forehead. “They were all bleating about silencing you somehow – discrediting you – but I was the one who actually did something about it… only you wriggled out of that one, didn't you, Potter? Not today though, not now –” And taking a deep breath, she cried, “ _Cruc_** _io_!”

The pain hit him a moment later. His body was writhing on the floor, his muscles seizing, his eyes rolling into the back of his head. When it finally stopped, he lay still on the ground, staring blankly up at the ceiling, trying to regain his bearings. His muscles were spasming every so often. His entire body felt numb and cold. His eyes were covered by a sort of mist. He tasted blood. Apparently, he had bitten down on his lip in order to avoid screaming. Good. He wouldn't give Umbridge the satisfaction of making him scream.

Umbridge, right, where was she anyway? Even through the ringing in his ears Harry could make out the tense silence in the room. Slowly, ever so slowly Harry turned his head, eyes searching for Umbridge. She was staring at him, the hungry glint hadn't left her eyes, making her look crazed.

“Are you ready to answer some questions now, Potter?” her voice was sickly sweet.

Harry felt the corners of his mouth turn up slightly, he huffed a laugh. It sounded a little strangled. Quietly he croaked: “Is that all you got?”

Her smile dropped, she looked aghast. She went to say something, then stopped as if she wasn't quite sure how to respond to that.

Fine. Her voice was grating his nerves anyway.

“You know,” Harry rasped from his position on the ground, smacking his lips trying to get rid of the metal taste in his mouth. “That's the third time that curse was used on me. I'm not that fond of it.”

His words were met with silence. This was getting tiring. Slowly he righted himself into a sitting position. He looked around briefly. The other students looked at him slack jawed. It would have been funny if their silent stares weren't so unnerving. His right hand spasmed and he looked down at the offending limb with furrowed eyebrows. 

This seemed to knock Umbridge out of her trance. “Wh-What do you mean, Potter. The third time? How are you not more effected by this?”

Harry sent her a _Bitch really?_ look. “Voldemort's was so much worse. You know you are really quite weak.”

She squawked in offence. “I beg your pardon, Potter!”

He hummed as if in thought. “You know I _would_ be tempted to accept but nothing that you could offer would ever be worth anything.”

He heard a quiet snort from Malfoy's direction. He flicked his eyes towards him but Malfoy looked as cool as ever. The Malfoy mask firmly in place.

Umbridge was still gaping at him. Her mouth opening and closing, really, she was doing a great impression of a fish.

Harry sighed. Why was this taking so long. He needed to get to Sirius. “Could you get on with it? I have somewhere I need to be, you know. It's a little time sensitive.”

“Where are you planning on going, Potter? You don't have permission to leave school grounds.”

He just rolled his eyes in response: “Puh-lease like I would tell you.”

He was feeling less numb now but he had a nasty case of pins and needles. He got up as carefully as he could.

In response Umbridge raised her arm and pointed her wand at him again, which had previously hung limply at her side. 

Harry grinned at her and she shivered in response. He must look slightly deranged. Oh well, nothing he could do about that now. “You want to go another round? Fine. Bring it on but make it quick. Like I said I have somewhere I need to be.”

Sighing she tapped her wand in her empty palm again: “You will comply, Potter. Sooner or later.”

He rolled his eyes again and looked her up and down pointedly: “Like an overgrown pink toad could break me.”

She set her shoulders looking determined and cast: “ _Crucio!_ ”

He dodged out of the way easily.

He could feel his magic thrumming through his veins. He didn't feel so powerless anymore. He was mad. How dare this woman torture children and think there would be no consequences. If it had just been him, he might have let it slip, he was used to mistreatment from years with the Dursley's but she had highjacked his school, his home. Did she honestly think there would be no repercussions? 

He advanced on her slowly, a predator circling his prey. She would pay.

She cast again, more frantic now. He was sure she could feel the rage and power radiating from him.

He swatted the Cruciatus Curse away as easily as if it were a fly. He was vaguely aware of the sound of ornate cat plates smashing in the background.

She was backing away from him now, stumbling slightly and staring at him with wide eyes.

With another flick of his wrist her wand flew out of her hand. He watched satisfied as the wand flew in the same upward arc he had just made. Then he looked back at her.

She looked at him in open terror now. And it probably shouldn't make him feel this satisfied but she was a real bitch and he couldn't help it.

“Th-that was wandless wordless magic. How…? That is so rare. Most adult wizards are only capable of the easiest wandless magic and even then, they need to say the spell,” she whispered.

Harry tilted his head slightly to the side. He thought it was normal. Magic just burst out of him sometimes. He thought back to the zoo incident or the time when Dudley and his gang had chased him and he had somehow ended up on the roof.

He shrugged casually and gave her a slightly feral smile: “Remember what happened to my Aunt just before third year?”

She shrank back. He was standing a few paces away from her, having stopped when he had backed her into a lace covered table in the corner.

“As fun as this whole thing was, I really do need to be going now. I'm sure you understand. Places to be, things to do and all that.” He flicked his fingers at the vase with the dried flowers on the table. It flew up and smacked her over the head. She fell down, unconscious. In that moment she reminded him of the mountain troll from his first year.

He exhaled, brushed off his hands and turned to face the rest of the room.

“Now, if you would be so kind as to release my friends and fuck off. I would greatly appreciate it.”

Crabbe, Warrington, Millicent Bulstrode, the large sixth year Slytherin girl and Luna's captor released them instantly and left the room in a rush. The only Slytherin that remained in the room was Malfoy.

He moved into an upright position from where he had been leaning against the window sill and tossed Harry's wand at him. “Not that you seem to need it but I really don't fancy holding on to it for you,” he drawled. When Draco walked past him, he winked and gave him a tiny smile making sure that only Harry could see it. Relief shone in his eyes. Harry nodded at him ever so slightly.

They had struck up a tentative friendship this year after he had seen Malfoy help some younger students deal with the after effects of the Blood Quill. They had kept it quiet, not wanting to bring attention to it at this stressful time. Besides, they needed some time to figure out their dynamic before letting anyone in and potentially ruining it. For appearances, they still traded jabs though they weren't as harmful anymore. And mostly they were just bickering in a friendly way while making it seem hostile. Apparently, Harry was quite a good actor, his friends hadn't caught on. So was Draco but that was no surprise.

On his way out Draco casually flicked his wand at Umbridge and hexed her. Harry was sure she would be in a lot of pain once she woke up.

Harry took in the rest of the office. It was in shambles. Although he had to say it looked better now than it had when he entered. One thing in particular caught his attention. There was a scorch mark on the wall from when he had dodged the Cruciatus curse. A memory flooded into his mind.

Sirius and Harry were standing in front of the room with the family tree. It was the day before they went back to Hogwarts after Christmas break. Sirius handed him a rapped object. Harry looked down at it in confusion before looking back up at his godfather.

“But you already gave me a present.”

Sirius rolled his eyes fondly: “Just open it would you? It took Moony and me ages to find it.”

Harry carefully unwrapped the present and looked down at a mirror. He looked at Sirius again not sure what he was supposed to do.

“It's a Two-way mirror. Your father and I used to use them when we were stuck in detention. It's a way we can talk without Umbitch interfering. All you have to do is say my name into the mirror and I'll hear it. I'll have the other one on me at all times.” He patted his pocket indicating where he had the mirror.

Harry beamed at him. “Thank you, Sirius.”

Huffing fondly Sirius pulled him into a fierce hug. Over Sirius' shoulder Harry could see the spot where his mother had burned him from the family tree.

Harry snapped back to the present. _The mirror!_ How could he have forgotten the _mirror_?! He dashed out of the door. He needed to check the mirror. A flicker of hope came into existence. Maybe it had all been some sort of cruel prank. Maybe Sirius was alright.

He heard his friends calling for him behind him. And then five pairs of footsteps running after him. He sprinted through the halls towards the Gryffindor common room, jumping through the portrait hole once it swung open. He pushed through the students occupying the room and raced up the stairs, taking three steps at a time.

He accioed the mirror from his trunk, not having the patience to rummage through it. It flew towards him and he snatched it out of the air.

“Sirius Black,” he near shouted into its surface.

After a few agonising seconds Sirius' face came into focus. He was standing next to Buckbeak. He was ok. Harry felt tears of relief fill his eyes and sagged to the ground.

“Hey Harry, what's up?” Sirius asked him. Relaxed. Happy. Sirius was ok. He was unharmed. That fucking house elf had lied to him.

“Sirius,” Harry breathed out shakily. He closed his eyes and sucked in a deep breath. He felt like it was the first real breath he'd taken since the vision he'd had of Sirius being tortured.

“Harry? What's going on?” Sirius asked, concerned now.

“You're ok. Oh, thank all the gods. You're ok Sirius.”

Sirius seemed taken aback for a second, before continuing in a soothing tone: “Yeah, I'm alright. All in one peace. Why would you think I wasn't ok, Harry?”

“I had a vision during my exam. You were in the Ministry. In the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort was torturing you. I… I didn't know what to do everyone who could have helped isn't here anymore. I went to Umbridge’s office to use the fireplace. It's the only one in the entire castle that you can floo from right now. And I called for you but you weren't there and then Kreacher came and he said you were gone, that you were at the Ministry. And then she came back and she wanted to know who I was talking to but I wouldn't tell her. So she had Draco get Snape. She wanted to use Veritaserum on me. Only he didn't have anymore. I tried telling Snape about you without saying it too directly but I'm not sure he understood. And when he left… Well that's not important anymore. What matters is that you're ok and we don't need to save you from the Ministry.”

Sirius blinked for a moment taking in all that Harry had just said. “You were going to leave school and break into the Department of Mysteries to save me?”

Harry stared at him for a moment then he said: “Well yeah. What else was I supposed to do? Let you be tortured?”

Sirius gave him a small smile and shook his head fondly: “That is so James of you. So how come you remembered the mirror and who's we?”

“Oh, um that would be Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville. And I remembered because of the scorch mark on Umbridge’s wall.”

“The scorch mark… Harry what happened in that office?”

Ah, yes, he supposed that he would have to tell him now. “Ummm…. So about that. I think you're cutting out Sirius I gotta go.”

“Harry,” Sirius said sternly. “This is not a muggle telephone. The mirrors don't cut out. Now what did she do?”

As Harry was debating how much he could say without making Sirius so angry that he would leave the safety of the house, hurried footsteps could be heard. A door on Sirius' side banged open, the image of Sirius wobbled for a moment and Remus' relieved voice said: “Oh thank goodness. You're here Padfoot. I was so worried. Severus sent the Order a Patronus saying that Harry had told him you were in the Ministry with Voldemort.”

Sirius smiled warmly at Remus: “Yeah, I'm ok and furthermore, Harry hasn't run off to save me so that's a relief.”

“What?” Remus asked.

Sirius turned and held up the mirror, now both of them were looking at Harry. He waved awkwardly.

“Oh, hey Harry.”

“Hi Remus.”

“Now,” Sirius turned earnest again. “Harry here was about to tell me why there is a scorch mark on Umbridge's office wall.”

Harry's dormitory door banged open, he had thought his friends were right behind him, somewhere in the back of his mind he was surprised it had taken them this long to catch up.

He turned to them with a relieved smile. “He's ok. Sirius is ok.”

The group let out a collective sigh and crowded around him to get a look.

Hermione turned to him then: “Oh Harry are you alright? You really shouldn't have run after that. We should take you to the hospital wing and get Madame Pomfrey to have a look at you. That horrible woman could have made some real damage. How could she have done that?”

Harry smiled at her reassuringly: “I'm ok. I promise.”

Sirius spoke up again: “Would someone please tell me what happened?”

Ron began before Harry could interject: “Harry and Hermione were caught in the Toads office trying to contact you. And the rest of us were taken into her office cause we were running interference. She wanted to know who Harry was talking to but he wouldn't say. And Snape didn't have any more Veritaserum so he left. She was really pissed. She used the Cruciatus Curse on Harry to try to make him speak.”

Sirius and Remus paled. Sirius started cursing and Remus cast a Patronus, talking fast and relaying the information.

“What happened then?” Sirius asked after he had calmed down enough to speak without cursing.

“Harry turned into a badarse and scared the shit out of her. She's lying unconscious in her office last we saw her. It was scary cool,” Ron continued.

“It was quite extraordinary,” Luna commented airily. “He deflected another Crucio and took her on without his wand and he didn't even have to say any spells.”

“And after that he just turned to the Slytherins who were restraining us, asked them to leave and they all ran out. Well except for Malfoy, he gave Harry back his wand and hexed her on the way out. That was the first time I have ever not hated him,” Ron concluded.

Sirius and Remus stared at all of them before focusing on Harry.

He shrugged uncomfortably. “I was mad.”

Neville piped up: “She also told us she sent the Dementors after Harry.” 

And with that comment chaos ensued once more. The next few days were complete and utter pandemonium. Umbridge was put on trial and condemned to spend the rest of her life in Azkaban. During her trial Snape ever so helpfully provided a bottle of Veritaserum.

Back at 12 Grimmauld Place, Sirius pulled Harry to the side: “I think it's about time we had a proper chat don't you?”

Harry grinned at him a little ruefully: “About anything in particular?” 

Sirius put a hand on Harry's shoulder and guided him towards the sofa: “How about you begin with telling me about why you called him Draco instead of Malfoy. I think that's a good place to start.”

Harry paused: “I did?”

“Yup. Now start talking.”


End file.
